Flying-machine.



. W. E. SOMERVILLE.

FLYING MAQHINE; :APPLICATION min AR. 1']. 191a. 1,185,728 Patented J une 6,1916.

SHEETSSHEETJ- w. E. SOMERVILLE.

FLYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. H, 1913.

Patented June 6; 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

lo: ts object-v N TED s'rarns PATENT OFFICE; I

WILLIA E. soM rrvILLn, or coat, cI'rY, ILLINOIS.

- FLYING-MACHINE.

ToaZZ whomz't may concern;

Be it known that 1, "WILLIAM E. Scams vILLE, al'citizen-of the United States,- residing at Coal City, in the county of Grundy and State of Illinois, have invented newand useful Improvements in Flying-ld'acliineslof.

which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference bein'g had to the accompanying drawing, forming a. part'of this specification.

M y invention relates to'improvements in flying machineswijth especial reference "to those, having a multiple of planes, and has theproduction of a machine formed irom a multiple of. units that can be readily assembled ai'1ddisassembled without it be ng --'necessarv to loosen L11: nnecting Wires.

A- furtherobject is theproduction or a machine formed 'of'a series of .detachable parts and means wherebysaid parts may be detached and knocked down. and" caused 'to occupy sma l 5pIC..

A further object is the production of a machine of simple, yet eflicient'construction that "can be cheapl; manufacturedand one not liable to'disarrangement of parts.

These and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained by my device,

embodiments of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. in which Figure 1 representsa perspective View of my completed. machine. Fig. QTepresents a detail sectional, front elevation showing a portion of the center and one side' of-mv device. Fig. 3 represents a sectional side ele va tion of my device. Figs. 4 and 5 represent enlargeddetail views showing method 'ofsecuring the parts tr ther. 7 represent enlarged onal views show ing modified means of securing'the parts together; I M

Like nunierals of" reference indicate like parts in the severalfigures of the drawing. Referringnow to Fig. l whichshows my invention-as embodied in a biplane, A repw resentst-he top plane terminating in upturned ends B and having anupright cen-- tral fin C, the wings being rigid and connected with the body of theplane by'nieans of wires 6, the upturned fin also being rigid over a hollow frame-work Figs. 6 and- Spee'ification of Le tte'rs Patent. ,Patenfd June 6,1916, Application iildMarch 173-1913.: Serial No.754i999.

carriage K and: provided itith wheels LL In this machine I have, illustrated a machine similar to that heretofore invented by me and fully described in my. application for Letters Patent ,filed November 4th, .1910,

and .no claim is made'herein-for'the device 7 heretofore described. The'pl'anes A'and DI are, formed of any desired materials'pread as is common in machine'sof thiskin'd, but isi'made up of a series ofsections (Z, each section being inde- 75 pendentlj niredand secured to the edgesnof the adjacent section in such a manner that it may be'poss'ible to separate the sections without disconnecting the individual guys extending from the top plane tofthe bottom 8d a plane. A I

' Referring now to. .the individual sections (I. show-n. in longitudinal cr0ss-se'ct ons' in Figs. :2 and3. it will be noted that each individual section comprisestop planesM-and' bottom planes M, each plane-having par,- allel'ba'rs and N" connected b v.nieans of cross-rods n. Above and below these crossbars'N and-N are secured a series of ribs O 0 held together'at'the' frontand rear by' rods or'bars' P. Spacing members Q, Q are placed between" the ribs to 'sepa rate --themj I apart and give thein.the proper curvature,

and over the'entire structure thus formedis stretched covering material ofsilk or duck 95 as shown in Fig. 1.

,, Referringnow to Fig- 2, adjacent end members N N are connected together by means of strap .hingesR R through the eyes of which are passed bolts R,'a similar c0n-100 struction bei'ng used both above and below the bars and on thetop and bOttODl'PlflIlQ.

and engine G 55 extending from the 60 openings in the'post T, both below't'he upper- Angle bars Sarealso secured to the bottom side of. the upper'bars N and the upperside of the lower bars as shown at S, these bars being spaced apart to permit tlie'insertion of a'post T therebetween, the post holding the upper and lower planes in op erative posit on.

. Retaining pins or bolts 8 slextend through holes in the vertical leg of the angle iron and are adapted to enter in corresponding bar I and above the lower bar. The post itself is preferably jointed or hinged T as: shown "at ,t and a. collar 'T.surrounds the 'postand holds'the same rigid. Retaining lugs'or ears U U are mounted on the underside of the upper bar and the upper'side of In 7 I have shown a mod'ification in which a single hinge V'is-employedand an upwardly curved platepreferably formed with an upwardly extending ear r taking the place of the angle iron .8 S shown in,

F ig. Q, the guy wire 20- being connected directly to the upturned endof the member V In Fig. 6 a sectional view of the form illustrated in Fig. -7 is shown in which the post itself is also provided with a single hinge W surrounded by a collar T, a stop X being set into the posts .to limitthe downward movement of the collar T. The-upturned ends B are also secured to the adjacent end plane so that they may be removed from the structure in thesame manner as the planes are separated one from the other. The reason why it may be advisable to have ditlerent forms of fastenings securing the sections together is that in some of the types of machines the main bars on which the planes are built'up are entirely hidden within the structure as shown in Fig. or may beat the front and back of the structure as shown in Fig. '7.

Suppose now that the planeis assembled, and it is desired to knock it down it: shipment.. It isonly necessary to slide the col lars T from over the joint permitting the posts or braces T to bend, thus relieving the tension on the guy wires. The bolts R; are then slipped from the eves of the hinges, thus entirely disconnecting one bar from the other as shown at the right hand of the drawing in Fig. The parts may then be separited bypulling them apart, the bolts s slipping out of the sockets in the post but remaining in the angle iron S. The upper and the lower members may then be brought togetheronejon top of the other, the wires being loosely disposed between the plane's. -The posts may then bepacked separately and all of-the plane members he or lug on the bars S caused to occupy'a very small space compared with that inset up condition. In place of the bolt 5 its. equivalent may be used in the shapeof an integral projection adapted to fit into the post.

No specific clai'm ismade to the particu-s' lar means ot' securing the parts together as it is evident. that any of the well known means ot' 'emo able uniting members can be" utilized without departinglfrom the} spirit of my invention,

In. view of. the great number of. fatalities "accoi-npanying the use of the mono-plane, ,the bi-plane has become the standard machine. in most 'instances and the question of.

transporting the machine from place to place by other than its own power has beplanes themselvfes nevenbeing in more than" two .partsone on either side of the center come a serious probleml Heretofore. 'the only way imwlnch the machine could be ofthe structure, and being very bulky took up a large space in transportation. Bythe use of'my device. however, it is seen that the machine.-so far as its planes are concerned, 1

mar be quickly and'eiliciently disassembled or knocked down .and caused to occupy a comparatively small space, and vet may be as quickly put together and be brought into cotiperative relation-with the machine as a whole, it beingsimplv necessary to raise the two adjacent upperplane members together; at the same time slipping the posts, slightly.

bent, into osition, locking the members together both above and below by means of the bolts R then straightening the posts and slipping the collars T over.-the-joints,; thus stiil'ening the entire structure and making .the two planes integral. Of course, it is understood that the lower planes are to be placed close together before lifting the up-.

per planes so that the lower end of the posts per end and at the same. time. d

The ability to quickly assemble and disassemblemachines of this character which mar be fitted in place the same as the upheretofore have taken onehalt' a day to a day to assemble becomes a very important feature especially in operations ot war makmg 1t POSSlblQ when it is not desired to operate the machine byits own power from place to place to knock it down and'set it up again in a very short space of time. I claim: Inatiying machine the combination with a sectional LIPPQIflflflIIG, a sectional lower plane, removable means for securing said sections together, hinged posts adapted to be fitted between the ends of corresponding upper and lower sections. removable means for making said pests rigid, a series of guy scribed my name in the presenceof two wit Wires contained between corresponding upnes'ses. v per and lower sections, and a pair of up WILLIAM E; SOMERVILLE. wardly extending sections removably se- 5 cured to the outermost upper section on Witnesses: 7

each side of the machine. HUGH S. BENNETT,

'In witness whereof, I have hereunto sub- FRANK VARYs. 

